Apparatus for electrodeposition



H. L. BRIDGMAN APPARATUS FOR ELEGTRODEPOSITION.

q'y/ j NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY L. BRIDGMAN, OF BLUE ISLAND, ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR ELE-CTR ODEPOSITION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 528,586, dated November6, 1894.

Application filedOotober 3, 1893. Serial No. 487,113. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY L. BRIDGMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Blue Island, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented a new and useful Improvement in ElectrodepositingApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an electro-depositingapparatus, the cathode for which shall be of general or approximateplate-shape and adapted to receive the deposit of metal on its side orsides grooved, (by preference spirally) by applying insulating materialto form the groove, wherein the deposited metal assumes a more or lessattenuated or elongated form and is produced in large quantities witheach operation of the apparatus, owing to the comparatively large numberof the cathodes their form will permit to be accommodated in the vat,and the consequent large aggregate of depositing surface they present.

The purpose of producing the metal of deposit in the attenuated orelongated form re ferred to is to form wire, of any desired gage,immediately by the action of the apparatus, or strips of the metaladapted to be readily drawn into wire.

In the accompanying drawingsFigure 1 is a view in sectional sideelevation of an elecfro-depositing apparatus provided with myimprovement. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are broken sectional views each showing adifferent form of the cathode Within my invention. Fig. 5 is a brokenview representing a section taken at the line 5 on Fig. 1, and viewed inthe direction of the arrow. Fig. 6 is a View like that presented in Fig.2, showing a modification.

A is the vat having supported in it a metal shaft B, which is preferablyrotatable and is covered with insulation 4 wherever it is exposed to theelectrolytic fluid in the vat, and straddled by the anodes O, which arehung to extend at suitable intervals apart in the vat from its lateralupper edges, on one of which the anodes bear againsta metal rod qconnected with one pole of a generator D, the shaft being connected withthe opposite pole thereof.

E E represent my improved cathodes.

The cathode E, which is preferably, though not necessarily, circular, isessentially of plate-form, or generally or approximately of that form;that is to say it has flat, or more or less concave. or convex, ordepressed or bulging surfaces for receiving the metal deposits by theelectrolytic action, which may be caused to take place on either or bothsides of the cathode.

As the arrangement is shown in Figs. 2, 3, and. 4 of the drawings, onlyone surface of each cathode is adapted to receive the metal deposit,while Fig. 6 shows an arrangement for the deposit on both surfaces. Thesurface is grooved, the groove F illustrated being spirally continuousfrom the center through which the shaft B passes, to the periphery,which is covered with'the insulating material r, the latter coveringalso the back of the cathode or surface thereof on which the depositingis to be prevented and be1ng extended on the shaft where it is exposedto the liquid-contents of the vat. The groove F is formed with suitableinsulating material, F, as rubberor wax, fastened to the side of thecathode-plate.

The form of the cathode enables a comparatively large number thereof tobe 1mmersed in a vat A, in which they alternate on the shaft B with theanodes C; and accordingly a great extent of depositing surface isafforded in a comparatively small apparatus, thus enablinga largequantity of the wire, or other form of the metal product, to bemanufactured at once in the apparatus.

The operation is the same as that of other apparatus of the same class;that is to say, the shaft is rotated in the liquid contents of thevatand carries withit the cathodes, which stir the liquid, and in thegrooves of which (the latter being coated with graphite, or any suitablesubstance that will tend to prevent adhesion) the electrolytic actiondeposits the metal in the desired elongated or wire form. When theproduct has attained the desired thickness, it is stripped from thecathodes.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

An electro-depositing apparatus comprising, in combination, a vat A forthe electrolytic fluid and in'which the anodes D are suspended, arotatable insulated shaft B, a oathively,with the cathode, through theshaft, and ode E secured on the shaft to rotate with it the anodes,substantially as and for the purthe cathode being of general plate-formwith pose set forth.

a spiral groove formed on at least one side HENRY L. BRIDGMAN.

5 with insulating material and having its edge In presence ofcoveredwith insulating material, and a gen- M. J. FROST, erator having itspoles connected, respect- W. N. WILLIAMS.

